Here's Your One Chance
by Ameena Raynor
Summary: A song fic, because I like song fics. Read to find out which song =). PG-13 for "Adult Themes." Please R&R, as I worked very hard on it.


AN- I know that everyone is seriously out of character, but I was listening to the song, and I really wanted to do it! This is a song fic to Reba's Fancy, with the words changed a bit to fit the characters.  I do not own "Fancy" nor do I own Ginny, Her mother, Hermione, Marcus Flint, or anyone else shown here. This being said, don't sue me! (Like you'd get much anyway!).  Please review, and don't flame unless its constructive. Any mean flames will be reported to Ariana Black, who has permission to sic the Dementors on you! Just kidding. Ready? Here goes…..

_I remember it all very well looking back_

_It was the summer I turned eighteen_

_We lived in a run down shack_

_On the outskirts of London_

_We didn't have money for food or rent_

_To say the least we were hard pressed_

_But momma spent every last penny we had_

_To buy me a dancing dress.___

"Mum, are you sure we can afford this?" Ginny asked her mother, who answered with a smile. 

"Ginny, dear, this is a big Muggle party. You have to wear the right thing.  Who knows what they would say if you showed up in your dress robes!" She laughed, but not in her usual way. Ginny was worried about her mother. She seemed to be depressed lately, ever since the birth of the newest Weasley, born a few months before Ginny's graduation.

"But first," her mother continued, "we do your hair and makeup."

_Momma washed and combed and curled my hair_

_Then she painted my eyes and lips_

_Then I slipped into the satin dancing dress_

_With a slit up the side clean up to my hip_

_It was red, velvet trimming_

_And it fit me good_

_Standing back from the looking glass _

_There stood a woman where a half grown kid had stood_

The look on her mother's face made Ginny happier than the most powerful cheering charm could have.

"Ginny, you look wonderful!" she said, beaming.

A moment later, the look gave way into her mother's recent look of depression, masked with a slight smile.

"Mum, what's wrong?" Ginny asked

_She said:_

_Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

_Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

  
"One chance? What do you mean by one chance?" Ginny asked

"Let me explain."

_Momma dabbed a bit of perfume on my neck_

_Then she kissed my cheek_

_Then I saw the tears welling up in her troubled eyes_

_As she started to speak_

_She looked at our pitiful shack _

_And she looked at me and took a ragged breath_

_She said "Your pa's runned off, and I'm real sick_

_And the baby's gonna starve to death!"_

"What? Daddy's gone?" she asked, in shock.

"Yes. He decided that his job was more important.  But Ginny, promise me, take care of the baby, ok? Make sure she turns out alright." Her mother replied

"But mum-"

"Just do it, Ginny!"

"Ok, I promise." She told her mother, with a hundred unanswered questions on her tongue. 

She watched her mother pull a box out of her dresser and open it.

_She handed me a heart shaped locket that said_

_"To thine own's self be true"_

_and__ I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across_

_the__ toe of my high heeled shoe_

_It sounded like some one else that was talking_

_Asking, "Momma what do I do?''_

_She said "Just be nice to the gentlemen Ginny,_

_They'll be nice to you."_

What did she mean by that? Ginny wondered naively. She figured she'd know soon enough.

_Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

_Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

_Lord forgive me for what I do_

_But if you want out its up to you_

_Now don't let me down,_

_Your momma's gonna move you uptown_

"Now Ginny, I want you to go stay with Hermione for a while.  I've already told her of the situation." 

"But-"

"Ginny, don't ask questions. Just remember what I tell you. This is your one chance to change your life. Make use of it." Her mother insisted. "Now go to your party, and have fun. Don't worry about me."

_That was the last time I saw my momma _

_And I left that rickety shack_

_The welfare people came and took the baby_

_Momma died and I ain't been back_

She had been staying at Hermione's apartment for the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, she couldn't pay the rent, so Hermione was forced to kick her out.

"Ginny," Hermione said, "I'd let you stay, but I'm about to go broke, paying for both halves of the rent for 3 months."

"Hermione, you don't have to explain." Ginny forced a smile. "I'll stay at the Leaky Cauldron and find a job. I'll pay you back I swear!"

However, finding a job was harder than she thought.

_But the wheels of faith had started to turn,_

_But for me there was no way out_

_Wasn't very long until I knew exactly_

_What my momma was talking about_

Her mothers words, "Be nice to the Gentlemen, and they'll be nice to you." Rang clear in Ginny's head day and night, but she had yet to figure out what they meant. 

Two weeks after she had left Hermione's apartment, she found out.  She was sitting in the leaky cauldron after a long day of looking for work.  She saw a young woman, about her age, walk up to a man, say something and walked to a room with him.  She didn't think much of it until the couple walked back into the bar and he handed her several gold coins. 

_I knew what I had to do _

_So I made my self this solemn vow_

_I'm gonna be a lady some day_

_Though I didn't know when or how_

            A few days later, she ran into Marcus Flint at the pub.  She steered clear of him for the most part, because of the usual Gryffindor/Slytherin hostilities.  But after an hour of staring at her, he sat down at the stool where she sat drinking Bailey's Irish Cream.  

            "Weasley," he slurred, as he had been in the pub long before Ginny arrived.

            "Yeah?" She countered.  He was gawking at her in a way she definitely did not care for.

            "Since you're already drunk," Ginny struggled to keep a straight face as she thought about how hypocritical and ironic this statement was. "Why don't you and I go to my room and see what happens." He started to stand up, but seemed to have a wave of nausea, and sat down again.

            Ginny was about to say something along the lines of, "Go to Hell, you bastard," but had a different idea.  In the few seconds between his statement and hers, her mind went though a serious internal battle.  One side said, "Ginny, you're desperate!" and the other said, "No one is that desperate!"  

            After a few moments of waging an internal war, she came to a decision.  If he was going to try to take advantage of her, why couldn't she take advantage of him?

            "Well, I suppose I could." She leaned up close to him seductively, as he gaped at her with surprise. "But you would have to make it worth my while." She paused for effect, thinking of what to say next. "But I don't think you could afford me."

            "Try me." Flint managed to slur through his surprise.

            Ginny thought fast.  She had no idea how much prostitutes cost.  And still, half of her mind kept trying to talk her out of it, but the other half, with the volume increased by alcohol, kept telling her to do it. She finally blurted out, "100 galleons."

            "Done." Flint replied.

            Four hours later, Marcus Flint was gone and Ginny was in a state of shock.  Now that she was fully sober, she was regretting what she had done.  But she couldn't help feeling that the jingle of coins in her purse was a rather nice sound.  This was what her mother had meant by her "one chance."  Selling herself was her only chance to get her dignity back.  As ironic as it seemed, in her situation it was true.

_But I couldn't see spending the rest of my life_

_With my head held down in shame_

_You know I might have been born plain white trash_

_But Ginny was my name!_

_            As she got dressed for another day of walking around Diagon Ally, she caught a glimmer in her reflection.  It was the little locket her mother had given her the last time they had seen each other.  She fingered it and read the inscription.  "To thine own's self be true."_

            After sitting a few minutes, she started to cry.  Quiet tears made way to loud, gut wrenching sobs.  Through her tears, she whispered, "Bullshit," and gave a tug on her necklace.  It broke cleanly and she let it drop into the wastebasket.  Then she collapsed on the bed and cried herself to sleep. She remembered the last thoughts she had before unconsciousness were her mother's words to her before she died:

_Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

_Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

            After a while, Ginny had done pretty well.    She had moved back in with Hermione, who only knew that Ginny had found a day job (that didn't pay much), and on the weekends stayed at the Leaky Cauldron, helping at the bar. This was true to an extent.  Ginny helped at the bar when she wasn't in various men's rooms.  She didn't always stay at the Leaky Cauldron.  Occasionally, her customers would take her elsewhere, like fancy Muggle hotels.

_Wasn't long after, a benevolent man_

_Took me hanging off the street_

_One week later I was pouring his tea _

_In a five room hotel suit_

_I charmed a king, a congressman,_

_And an occasional aristocrat_

_Then I got me a gorgeous mansion _

_And an elegant __London__ town house flat_

_I ain't done bad…_

            Fifteen years later, Ginny had everything she could ever want.  She had two beautiful homes which were frequented by different men.  Yet she was still depressed.

_Now in this world there's a lot of self righteous_

_Hypocrites who call me bad_

_They criticize momma for turning me out_

_No matter how little we had_

_            One day, while in Diagon Alley, she heard a familiar voice call out._

            "Ginny!" She gave a jolt out of surprise. It couldn't be, she thought.  She turned around.  It was. It was him.

            "Harry!" She exclaimed.  "Lord, how long has it been?"

            "Too long," he answered as he bent down and kissed her on the cheek, as he always used to do.  Throughout their years at Hogwarts, they had grown close, though they never dated.  They stood outside Flourish and Blotts for at least an hour talking about the "old days" before Harry put on a serious face.

            "Ginny, I've been hearing some not so flattering rumors about you." He said quite bluntly.  He must have seen her face turn white, because the next thing he said, in a shocked voice, was, "They aren't true, are they? Tell me they aren't true."

            Ginny slowly shook her head once, then lowered it in shame. She had always felt that she had done the right thing, but admitting her deeds before Harry Potter, her first crush, made her feel like she had been run over by a runaway hippogriff.

            "Ginny, why?  If you needed help, you could have come to me or Ron or Hermione or any of your brothers for that matter. You didn't have to sell your self!"

            His last words made Ginny snap out of her shame. She lost her temper.  "Go to Ron? Any of my brothers would have been glad enough to help me out, but they were just as bad off as I was! Remember, my father left us all in a bit of a predicament." She laughed bitterly  "You were off fighting Voldemort. I couldn't have asked you to come help me while your saving the world!" She stopped, savoring the look of surprise on his face. "As for Hermione, I nearly made her broke staying with her while I looked for a more respectful," she said this in a condescending tone, "occupation."

            Harry seemed to have recovered, because he looked like he was going to argue with her. But before he opened his mouth she said, "Listen Harry.  My mother warned me of what would happen.  She taught me how to survive. And I am extremely grateful to her.  My only regret is that I couldn't take care of my baby sister." She continued:

_But I ain't had to worry about nothing_

_For now on fifteen years_

_And I can still hear the desperation in my poor momma's voice_

_Ringin__ in my ears!_

_She said:  
Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

_Here's your one chance Ginny _

_Don't let me down_

_Lord forgive me for what I do_

_But if you want out its up to you_

_Now don't let me down,_

_Your momma's gonna move you uptown_

            That evening, after she got home, she looked around her luxurious town house and sat down on one of the plush armchairs.  The butler brought her a glass of Bailey's.  When he left, she took a sip of her drink and thought to her self with a chuckle…

_Well, I guess she did._

AN- Well, what did you think?!?!? PLEASE PLEASE let me know by reviewing or e-mailing me. Because I worked really hard on this one and I deserve it!


End file.
